Lookout For These Food Allergy Danger Zones

by Kathi
(Pennsylvania)

Parents who have any child which is new to the diagnosis of food allergies are often unprepared and overwhelmed at the same time. Learning your child has a food allergy initially is just pure shock. Then as reality starts to settle in and you realize you are the parent, you must be the role model, your brain kicks in gear and many feel “Well, that’s not too bad. It’s only milk. We’ll just have eggs for breakfast instead of cereal”. Then as hours turn into days and days turn into weeks, you as the parent are just beginning to realize this goes a whole lot farther than just a bowl of cereal. It just seems like everything in that store has milk on the ingredient label.

Many other places can also be a carrier of food allergens. Here is a list of some trouble areas which are often overlooked as a source of trouble, especially for the newly diagnosed.

• Bulk Food Stores and displays have a greater chance of cross contamination. This is because people tend to pick up a scoop and carry it along making all of their selections using the same scoop.
  
  
• The Deli Department in most small stores or the grocery store is a danger zone. Knifes and meat/cheese slicers are generally used by multiple people working on the same shift. The chances of keeping utensils which have not been accidentally contaminated is almost impossible.
  
  
• Birds and their feeders, pets, wildlife in and around your home or just the neighborhood kids can easily cross contaminate your yard with seeds, nuts, wheat or milk products. Many unusual and the normal allergens can easily end up in your children’s play area.
  
  
• A stuffed animal, a children’s museum and children’s furniture often have one thing in common - tree nut shells. The stuffing of toys and furniture are often ground up nut shells, the museums and many play areas often use nut shells as a display base instead of sand, stone or grass.
  
  
• The family pet can actually turn into a danger zone without supervising their food dishes. A toddler often chooses to help puppy with his supper, trying a quick bite. Also, a quick lick from the dog which has just eaten can be a danger.
  
  
• Cross contamination from the person ahead of you can be a trial everywhere in the public. Trains, planes, buses, amusement parks, at Sunday church, the public school, the grocery store cart’s handle and on and on. If the person before you just ate a peanut butter cup and they touched a door handle, your child is now at risk for a reaction.
  
  
• Bathroom toiletries,like toothpaste, soaps, shampoos, hand and body lotions and cremes, talcum or body powders etc. all contain some of the better known allergens.
  
  
• Medications - whether they are prescription or over the counter, often use some of the major allergens as fillers.
  
  
• Holiday parades or parties often hand out gifts and snacks during a parade or at the actual party.
  
  
• Play Dough products contain wheat and possible other allergens. Some paint sets for kids also contain common allergens.
  
  
• A movie theatre, baseball park, the local rec hall... any institution or public gathering place tends to initiate snacking and soda. Dirty sticky hands, spilled food and containers and wrappers can be anywhere.
  
  
• The jelly jar in your own kitchen. If another family member made a PB&J sandwich and used the same knife to spread the peanut butter and then placed that knife into the jelly jar, the jelly is now contaminated. The same is often true about cereal boxes, cracker boxes etc when anyone else puts their hand inside to grab a handful of product.
  
  
• Even the entertainment can become a difficult situation at many parties. A clown often slides candy into his pocket for the kids. Once it comes out, it is now contaminated.
  

As this list shows, obviously with a severe food allergy, cross contamination must be a major concern almost everywhere. Extreme care must be exercised because anything your child touches can become a potential hazard with a severe allergy.

For individuals not prone to a severe reaction, the excitement of the moment, especially for children, may over-ride their normal precautions which they have been trained to observe.

So staying safe does require some extra vigilance, especially when visiting some of the most normal commonplace locations where a parent often doesn’t think it could be the source of an accidental source of allergens.